Wild Yeast Sourdough Starters Exchange

I'm just amazed they arrived so quickly! I'm glad to know they're making it to their destination!

Obviously, I have a problem with the abilities of the US Postal Service! LOL!

Enjoy and have a beautiful week!

Janis - I hear you've been bombarded with rain out there! Is it drying out yet?
 
Yeah! I got my wild yeast in the mail too.

Unfortunately I won't be able to bake bread until I get home from the cruise. But, when I do, will post pictures.:D

Thank you so much ladies for joining me with this endeavor. I'm having so much fun enjoying new tastes and looking forward to the rest of everyone's wild yeast to bake into bread.

I've learned a lot too. There is so many ways to catch a wild yeast and prepare the dough for baking.

I will keep these wild yeasts for as long as I am able.;)

I still have the Panama yeast to capture, and will send it out when I get back home. Sunday I leave! It's coming up so fast.:confused:

Janie
 
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Woo-Hoo!

Received my sample from Suzanne! Thank you Suzanne! I can't wait to try it out! It's second in line after Janis'! Unfortunately, I'm going to be in Boston most of the day Saturday, so I'm going to have to wait until next weekend to bake again! I'm so sad!

Well, we're at least going to be having fun!

Janie - Have a wonderful time on your cruise! I'm assuming I shall be seeing your sample in the mail soon, too!
 
syzygy314 said:
Woo-Hoo!

Received my sample from Suzanne! Thank you Suzanne! I can't wait to try it out! It's second in line after Janis'! Unfortunately, I'm going to be in Boston most of the day Saturday, so I'm going to have to wait until next weekend to bake again! I'm so sad!

Well, we're at least going to be having fun!

Janie - Have a wonderful time on your cruise! I'm assuming I shall be seeing your sample in the mail soon, too!
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Yes, I sent it out almost a week ago. You should be getting it any day now. Can't wait for you to try mine too. ;)

Isn't this exciting?!?

Janie
 
Janie - I am a woman obsessed now! LOL! I may need to start working out twice a day! Of course, then, I'll be in the same boat I was in before! Maybe just a short run to work off the bread after work?

I'll be watching my mailbox over the next couple of days!
 
Beth - I'm in awe of your baking! Everything sounds so delicious.

Tricia - I received your starter and popped it in the fridge to rest quietly with Janis'.

Janie - Have a wonderful time on your cruise adventure! I'm sure your belly will be fine - I've used the accupressure wrist bands with success or, if you can have it (do I remember that you have a restricted diet?) dried, candied ginger might help.

For myself, as much as I love the guy and his philosophy, I think I jumped in the deep end with the Peter Reinhart. I'm going to spend a couple of weekends with my King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking book and see if I can find a few recipes that are easier on my brain.....:confused:

My third loaf came out pretty nicely so I do feel like I'm getting the hang of the procedure - but I'm just feeling a bit overwhelmed right now and the whole tending of the starter is giving me dread. I'll take a bit of a break and then I'm sure my enthusiasm will return.

I plan to reconstitute one at a time and try each one in turn. Am I right in assuming that the starters will "localize" and lose their unique flavor over time? How long does that take (I'm sure weather plays a part).

Happy baking!
 
Janie - Just wanted to let you know I received your starters today! Yippee! I was getting a little worried that they had been lost in the mail! Whew! What a relief! I now have so much to try! Thank you, thank you for the samples and the idea to begin with!

Suzanne - I know how you feel! I tried the french bread recipe out of Peter's BBA book. I, too, was looking for something relatively simple! It wasn't a sourdough recipe, but I wanted to try it for comparison to see if it would come out the same way or better than my other loaves. I thought there might have been something wrong in my technique, but I think it's more a bit of impatience and worry that I'm letting it sit too long or kneading it too long, etc. I'm going to be a little bit more patient with the second proofing next time!

Take care all!
 
Suzanne, Oh yes, I have many little ginger candies. They work for my stomach upsets, we'll see if it helps with motion sickness.

Sometimes we all need a break from one thing or another. It's OK, you just have to digest what you've learned is all.

I asked that very question to Teresa on northwestsourdough.com, if the starters gets localized, here is what she said:

Hi Jane,
Frank Sugihara, the discoverer of the bacteria, Lactobacillus San Francisco,who is a microbiologist, said that a stable sourdough culture which is healthy will keep intact it's orginal bacteria without changing into a local bacteria culture. I have kept ten cultures for many years and I am careful to keep them heathy and separate. They still have their different proofing times, flavors and characteristics. I think what happens to most people is that they keep their starter in an environment which is 40F degrees or under which kills off bacteria but not yeast. If they do keep their starter refrigerated, they will lost the flavor and characteristics that they started with. That is according to Professor Raymond Calvel, who invented the autolyse period for bread baking.

I hope this helps. Teresa


It makes sense to me. I also asked if it should be refrigerated or not. She's very good at replying, so I should get an answer soon.




Tricia, Yeah! You got the starters. I'm so glad, I also was getting a little worried.

Have a terrific evening,

Janie
 
Janie - Thanks for that info! I'm looking forward to what she says about refrigeration as that is where mine is right now, but at least it's my local one!
 
Teresa from northwestsourdough got back to me very quickly. Here is what she says about starters.

Hi Jane, unless you have a dedicated refrigerator that has a temperature above 40 degrees, you should either keep a spare amount of your dried starter set aside to reactivate when your starter loses flavor, keep your starter that you are using out at room temperature and feed it daily, keep any extra starters you are not using dried and ready to reactivate when you need it. Or keep your starters that you are not using, as a frozen dough for up to 6 mos, reactivating when needed.

Teresa




Well, to me I think you need to refrigerate your starters at 41+ degrees F. temperature for dry starters. I do have a place in the fridge that goes to 42, so I guess that's where I'll be storing mine. Is that what this means?:confused:
Let me know what you all think, K?

Janie
 
Now I'm confused -

Does that mean to keep them dried at room temperature? Or, dried and refrigerated? :confused::confused:

Sigh, just when I thought I knew what I was doing! :eek:

janiejoey said:
Teresa from northwestsourdough got back to me very quickly. Here is what she says about starters.

Hi Jane, unless you have a dedicated refrigerator that has a temperature above 40 degrees, you should either keep a spare amount of your dried starter set aside to reactivate when your starter loses flavor, keep your starter that you are using out at room temperature and feed it daily, keep any extra starters you are not using dried and ready to reactivate when you need it. Or keep your starters that you are not using, as a frozen dough for up to 6 mos, reactivating when needed.

Teresa




Well, to me I think you need to refrigerate your starters at 41+ degrees F. temperature for dry starters. I do have a place in the fridge that goes to 42, so I guess that's where I'll be storing mine. Is that what this means?:confused:
Let me know what you all think, K?

Janie
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Tricia,

I sent that question to her. I'm sure she will elaborate on it. That is confusing to me too.

Don't worry, you still know what you are doing. In the mean time, I'll see what I can find on the internet. Unless one of us knows the answer to this.

I'll keep in touch.

Janie
 
Got the answer from Teresa and it is not confusing anymore:

Here's her answer about storing dry starters:

"Hi Jane, dried starters should not be kept in the refrigerator. The humidity in a refrigerator isn't too good for a dried starter. Keep a dried starter at room temperature in it's zip bag, but then put the bag in a jar or tupperware to protect from insects or rodents. A zip bag kept in a dresser drawer or hutch is usually free from instects and rodents though. Sorry if my answer was confusing.

Teresa"



Yeah! Not confusing anymore.;)

I also understand (according to Breadtopia and another person out there who has done this) to put them in the freezer, in zip lock bags, in a container that can be frozen.

This is what I'm going to do.

I'm dividing each of my starters in half and putting them each in zip lock bags. Then I'm going to put half of them in a container that can be frozen and freeze them. Then for the other half, will put them in zip lock bags in a container to be placed in my cupboard. And if all fails, I will request/beg to get another sample from you all. In return, I will do the same for as long as I live. How a bout that? LOL:D

I sure hope that clears everything up.:) Anyway there is a couple of ways to do this. So enjoy your bread baking for a very long time. Even pass it down to your family.

Janie
 
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Thanks Janie! You're a saint finding all this out for us!

Now, I'm panicking cause all mine are in the fridge! Got to go get them out and let them warm then package them back up and store them properly!

I agree with you! If all else fails, we can request new samples from each other!

Take Care!

Thanks again!

janiejoey said:
Got the answer from Teresa and it is not confusing anymore:

Here's her answer about storing dry starters:

"Hi Jane, dried starters should not be kept in the refrigerator. The humidity in a refrigerator isn't too good for a dried starter. Keep a dried starter at room temperature in it's zip bag, but then put the bag in a jar or tupperware to protect from insects or rodents. A zip bag kept in a dresser drawer or hutch is usually free from instects and rodents though. Sorry if my answer was confusing.

Teresa"



Yeah! Not confusing anymore.;)

I also understand (according to Breadtopia and another person out there who has done this) to put them in the freezer, in zip lock bags, in a container that can be frozen.

This is what I'm going to do.

I'm dividing each of my starters in half and putting them each in zip lock bags. Then I'm going to put half of them in a container that can be frozen and freeze them. Then for the other half, will put them in zip lock bags in a container to be placed in my cupboard. And if all fails, I will request/beg to get another sample from you all. In return, I will do the same for as long as I live. How a bout that? LOL:D

I sure hope that clears everything up.:) Anyway there is a couple of ways to do this. So enjoy your bread baking for a very long time. Even pass it down to your family.

Janie
Click to expand...
 
Hi Everyone!

Tricia- I recieved you starter today! Thank you!!
I was reading the last bit of conversation and I am confused too! I have been keeping all mine out and trying to use them for muffins and pancakes every other day or so. I have not have good luck with the bread. Do you all use yeast in your breads as well a starter? Because so far I have used just the starter and maybe that is the problem. After I dry mine and send it out, I will be interested to see how you bread experts do. The flavor is great! Last night, I baked the loaf I had started the day before and it came out like well flavored bread sticks:confused:

I won't post the brownie recipe becasue the one I used was somewhat dry- found it on the internet- but I will post my muffin recipe because it works everytime. My latest is cranberry pecan!!!

Janie, what a fabulous trip you have planned! You are really covering some ground- Wow! And Suzanne is right- the ginger candies always work for me- even better than the patch!

Ok- here is muffin recipe out of Alaskan Cooking

1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 cup starter
1/4 c vegetable oil
mix these together first
add and mix lightly
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 c sugar
then add 1 cup blueberries (or this is where I add cranberries and pecans)bake at 400

if you make 12- the come out to about 200 calories each
 
Beth - I'm glad you got the starter!

Thanks so much for posting the muffin recipe! I'll have to try it soon. I just made banana nut muffins this past weekend and I'm in Boston on Saturday, so it'll have to wait until next weekend! I love trying new recipes!

Don't lose hope with the bread! It'll come! I'm still working on it myself! It's not quite there yet!

Enjoy the starter!
 
Hello Wild Women!

I don't know if anyone is still checking here or not, but I'm on a bread baking rampage this weekend!

I took my starter out of the fridge a little over a week ago thinking I could use it after about 2-3 days back on the counter. It didn't appear ready and had that layer of straw colored alcohol-ish liquid. I kept stirring it down and finally poured off the remainder. Needless to say, I wasn't able to bake last weekend. This week it just came to life! I mean REALLY came to life! It was like watching the Blob expand! I'm excited that I could possibly have a couple of amazing loaves this weekend! The starter is in better shape now than it was when I first used it!

Hope this finds everyone well and ready for summer!
 
Hi Everyone!

I lost this link for a while.

Tricia, that sounds really interesting.. did you have to feed and throw away again? I have neglected baking for exercising for a while- but now my son is home from college so I have an audience again!!

Janie- I got your exotic starter today! Thank you! That must have been wild doing that while on the cruise!

I happened to catch an old Julia Childs show on the food network and she had on this guy that was making the bread from the starter and it was completely different from how I had done it.. I will try again!
 
Hey there!

Yes, I did feed and throw away with each feeding until it blended well and started getting all bubbly and expanding. The loaves came out much better than my first try, but I'm still not getting the big holes. Have to keep working on it! The flavor was great and so was the crust! It was much lighter inside as well. Very good.

Post how yours turns out on your second go around! I'm finding the more I practice the better each batch gets!
 
Easing back in to baking

Ladies! Well, I definitely bit off more than I could chew with the starters and had to discontinue efforts for a while.

Now I'm easing my way, babystepping very slowly, back into the baking world. Currently working on being able to churn out a reliable loaf of straightforward bread. Using the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain recipe for 100% whole wheat sandwich bread.

So far so good.

My question is this....what do you all store your breads in? I'm trying to be a little eco-friendly and I just cringe at using plastic bags. Ideas?

Hope everyone has had a great summer. My garden is completely out of control - it's been so hot!
 
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